Mechanical toy



E. D. FOX

MECHANICAL TOY June 10; 1930.

Filed Nov. 14', 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet; l

June 10, 1930. E. D. FOX 1,762,574

MECHANICAL TOY Filed Nov. 14, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 10, ,1930

PATENT OFFICE EARLE D. FOX, OF WINNETKA, ILLINOIS,

ASSIGNOR OF FORTY-NINE PER CENT TO BENJAMIN A. SCI-IIFF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MECHANICAL TOY Application filed November 14, 1928.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide an improved toy constructed and designed to simulate or represent an animal of the simian type, and the invention comprehends more particularly the provision of a toy of this character adopted to be articulated in a way that it will be propelled or advanced in a manner in natural semblance of the manner in which the character or object represented or simulated thereby usually walks or advances or propels itself.

A further object is to provide an im proved toy of this character so constructed that it will counterbalance itself while at rest or while changing positions, and which is adapted to be operated by drawing or pulling upon a draw chain or leash without the necessity of having any further attention given thereto, in so far as the operation of the toy is concerned.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other new and useful objects as will appear, the invention consists 2 in the features of novelty in substantially the construction, combination and arrangement of the several parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings illustrating this invention and in which Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of a toy of this character constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention and showing the same in full lines in normal or starting position and in dotted lines two other positions assumed during one cycle of operation of the toy.

Figures 2 and 3 are views of the toy showing the same in different positions during the different stages of its advancing or propelling movements.

Figures 1, 5 and 6 illustrate a modified form of the invention and show the toy in the different positions which it will assume during its advancing or propelling motions.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the numeral 10 designates generally the body of the toy which may be of any de- Serial No. 319,216.

sired size and configuration but is here shown as simulating one of the larger animals of the simian type, the feet thereof being designated by the reference character 11 while the legs are designated by the reference character 12.

The feet are preferably formed with a curved bottom 13 upon which the body may rock, and 14 designates the arms. The arms are of an abnormal length with rela tion to the body and are pivotally connected as at 15 with the body portion near the shoulders thereof. The hands 16 are pivotally connected at the wrists by means of a pivot 17 with the forearm, and in order to limit the hands in their movement in one direction about their pivot, co-operating shoulders 18 and 19 are formed respectively on the forearm and the Wrist. The fingers of the hands are preferably partially closed so as to form a surface 20 adjacent the knuckles, and if desired suitable material 21 may be secured to such surface, which contacts with the ground, to prevent slipping when the toy is operated in a manner to be hereinafter set forth.

The arms 14 are preferably bent at the elbow 22 and the arms are of an abnormal length, that is to say, the length of the arm from the pivot 15 to the surface 20 is of a greater length than the length of the body 10 of the toy from the pivot 15 to the surface 13, and portions of the arms are slanted when the body is erect so that when the surface 20 is in contact with the ground, as shown in full lines in the Figure 1, the body 10 may swing about the pivot 15 between the arms as indicated in dotted lines in the intermediate position in Figure 1.

If desired, the arms 14 may be weighted, and to that end a weight 23 may be provided at any suitable point but is preferably located adjacent the elbow 22 and may be concealed in any suitable manner.

The operation of the toy is as follows.

The full line position shown in Figure 1 is the normal or standing position of the toy, that is with the hands 16 in advance of the body and resting upon the ground. In this position the toy will counterbalance itself and will stand erect. A draw chain or leash 24 is connected as at 25 with the toy, preferably adjacent the neck thereof and by means of which draw chain the toy may be articulated. When the toy is in the position shown in Figure 1, and by drawing upon the chain 24, the toy will begin to rock about the surface 13 and also about the surface 20 formed. by the fingers. A further movement of the toy in the same direction will result in the body 10 being lifted from the ground to the position shown in dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, and at the same time a forward movement will be given to the toy by reason of the fact that the toy will then be supported by the arms 14 and'hands 16, the latter forming a lever or fulcrum that turns about the surface 20.

From the dotted line positionshown in Figures 1 and 2, a further pulling upon the toy will cause the body 10 to swing about the pivot 15 until the end of the surface 13 contacts with the ground at a point considerably in advance ofthe point where the surface 20 formed by the fingers engages the ground. During this movement the hands 16 will be held against a knuckling or swinging movement with respect to the arm 14 by the shouldered portions 18 and 19. After the toy has assumed the position shown in Figure 2 infull lines, a further drawing'upon the chain 24 will cause the toy to rock about the surface 13, as shown in Figure 3, to swing the arms 14 forwardly about the pivots 15. In order to permit of this movement the hands 16 knuckle with respect to the arm 14 as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. The arms 14 will be thrown forward with considerable momentum due to the weight 23, or if desired, the arms may be made of sufficient weight to cause such action. During the forward movement of the arm 14 to the position shown in Figure 3 in full lines, the hands 16- will again move about their pivots 17 until they assume the position shown in full lines in Figures 1 and 3. This will be caused by reason of the fact that the surface 20 will engage the ground and as the arms 14 swing backwardly the shoulders 18 and 19 will engage. Just at the time that the hands 16 assume the position with respect to the arm 14 as shown in Figure '1, the toy will be further advanced in a similar' manner by pulling upon the draw chain'24. 7

Thus by a steady pull upon the draw chain 24 it will be manifest that the toy'wi'll advance itself in a manner to simulate the manner of advancement or propulsionemployed by the animal which the toy is designed to simulate. g V

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 4 to 6, the'operation is the same as that shown in Figures 1 to 3, but in Figures and are preferably bent at the elbow 28, the

length of the arms being, such that when.

the toy is tilted as shown in dotted lines in Figure 4, the surface 31 will contact with the ground before the legs and feet 1211 knuckle or swing with respect to the body portion 10.

With this formof the invention and when a pull is exerted upon the draw chain 24, thefirst movement of the toy will be to the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 4, the legs 12 and feet 11 being prevented from-knuckling with respect to the body in any suitable manner preferably by means of a stop 30 so arranged that it may engage a portion of the body. The toy will then rock upon the surface 11 and also upon the surface'31 formed by a portion of thefingers' of the hand. Inasmuch as the arms 27 are of considerable length they will form levers and fulcrums about which the arms will swing and at the same time thebody portion 10 will: swing about the pivots 29 from the position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in Figure 5, the legs 12 I and feet 11 swinging about the pivot 25 so as to permit the legs and feet to pass between the arms 28, as indicated in Figure 5, until the toy assumes the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 6. A further movement of the toy in the same direction will cause it to assume an upright or erect position as shown in full lines in Figure 6. While in the drawings there is shown and described a toy in simulation of a particular animal,'it is to'be understoodthat' the in; vention is particularly adapted for use in connection with the simulation of other animals and objects;

- While the preferred forms of the invention have been herein shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction 1 and in the combination and arrangement of the severalparts, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

What is claimed-as new is V 1. A mechanical toy. embodying a body, feet and leg portions constituting a body unit and arms and hands constituting a lever unit, means connecting the lever unit with the body unit for free swinging movement with respect thereto on a pivot fixed against bodily movement with respect to said body, "the said toy adapted'to be supported on the ground by the body unit, one.

of" said units being longer than the other unit whereby when the body unit is tilted upon the ground the lever unit will engage the ground and the body unit will swing past the lever unit and engage the ground in advance of the point of contact of the lever unit with the ground, and a joint in one of said units for causing the distance between said pivot and the free extremity of the jointed unit to be increased and de creased during the operation of the toy.

2. A mechanical toy having a body, legs and feet constituting a body unit and arms and hands constituting a lever unit, said arms being connected to the body on a pivot fixed against bodily movement with respect to said body portion, the said arms and hands being of a combined normal length from said pivot greater than the normal length of the body of the toy from said pivot to the bottom of the feet, means for advancing the toy to cause the same to move about a fulcrum formed by the free extremities of the arms and hands in contact with the ground, said body swinging between said arms to cause the feet portion to engage the ground in advance of the point of contact of the arms and hands with the ground, to form another fulcrum or pivot about which the body may be rocked as the body is further advanced, to cause the said arms to be swung forwardly with respect to the body about said pivot to cause the ends of the arms and hands to contact with the ground in advance of the last recited fulcrum, and means whereby the length of one of said units will be alternately increased and decreased during the operation of the toy.

3. A mechanical toy embodying a body, feet and leg portions constituting a body unit and arms and hands constituting a lever unit, means connecting the lever unit with the body unit for free swinging movement with respect thereto on a pivot fixed against bodily movement with respect to said body, the said toy adapted to be supported on the ground by the body unit, one of said units being longer than the other unit whereby when the body unit is tilted upon the ground the lever unit will engage the ground and the body unit will swing past the lever unit and engage the ground in advance of the point of contact of the lever unit with the ground, and a joint in one of said units for causing the distance between said pivot and the free extremity of the jointed unit to be increased and decreased during the operation of the toy, the said lever unit being weighted, impetus being imparted to the lever unit when the toy is rocked upon the fulcrum formed by the engagement of the body unit with the ground.

4. A mechanical toy having a body, feet and leg portions constituting a body unit and arms and hands constituting a lever unit, means connecting the lever unit with the body unit for free swinging movement with respect thereto on a pivot fixed against bodily movement with respect to the said body, the said toy adapted to be supported upon the ground by the body unit, the lever unit being of a length that when the body unit is tilted upon the ground the lever unit will swing about said pivot to engage the ground to form a fulcrum upon which the lever unit is rocked to cause the body unit to swing upon said pivot to pass between the arms to contact the ground in advance of said fulcrum, means for maintaining the point of contact of the lever unit with the ground from slipping with respect thereto, and a joint in one of said units whereby the sections of the jointed unit will swing with respect to each other.

5. A mechanical toy embodying a body, feet and leg portions constituting a body unit and arms and hands constituting a lever unit, means connecting the lever unit with the body unit for free swinging movement with respect thereto on a pivot fixed against bodily movement with respect to said body, the said toy adapted to be supported on the ground by the body unit, one

of said units being longer than the other unit whereby when the body unit is tilted upon the ground the lever unit will engage the ground and the body unit will swing past the lever unit and engage the ground in advance of the point of contact of the lever unit with the ground, a joint in one of said units for causing the distance between said pivot and the free extremity of the jointed unit to be increased and decreased during the operation of the toy, and means for limiting the movement of the jointed portion of the last said unit in one direction.

In'testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, on this 3rd day of November, A. D. 1928.

EARLE D. FOX. 

